damian and i skate skiing in park city, UT. we decided to get away for a few days and ski a bit. it was hard- of course, we decided to do all the hardest loops, including the Olympic course and another called rollercoaster, each ranked a double black. sweet.

here is one of the trails damian and i skate skied on- it was called rollercoaster, and for a very good reason... crazy hard~

skate skiing on valentines day! be my valentine....

snowy day! park city, UT on valentine's day. Damian was being nice and wiping off my car with his jacket. as you can see, it snowed. and was cold. good times.

and here you see, i have the cure for the common sinus infection/bronchitis:

1. ice cream! thats right, every night! any flavor will do, but my favorites are mixing mint chip with cookie dough...

2. the drugs- wonderful mucinex and antibiotics!!! where would the human race be without them! good thing, since without them i would be out of a job....

here i am standing in front of all the drugs i give out to people...

some people ride bikes, some people sell stuff, i mix up drugs. oh yeah.

bright and early at work. woohoo, yay. this is where is where i spend half my life. good times.

Here is a pic of me attempting to ride on ice with a tad bit of snow covering it- it looks safe...

SIKE!

tasha and i slid out too many times to count. good thing i have a crack in my femor- hopefully the doc isn't reading this. ha! ice is NOT my friend. how ironic though, considering i grew up on it as a figure skater... Mmm.

ahh, left hand. been up it many many times- but this time i actually looked around for once, and noticed how cool the climb up is...
i mean, i was going slow enough- what else was i gonna do? it was great to be out in 60F weather, even if i was going about 8 mph.

yep, you are reading that right- 121 watts- woohoo! i was going so slow i almost fell over. the doc said to take it easy, and this one's for the coach. see, i can ride easy. promise.

and here is the documentation that yes indeed, i was actually on my bike today... riding. for real. and it was fabulous.

ok so everyone and their dog knows where this is- good 'ole left hand. but has anyone ever really stopped to look at the scenery? i mean really....

Renewed love...

thats it- i have rediscovered my love- my body not knowing exactly what to do at first, my legs unsure of where to be, my arms quivering as i rolled out- and then, it happened. i began to ride. not smooth at all; my feet making almost perfect squares, but it didn't matter. i am back on the bike...
my first pedal strokes felt so foreign to me, as if i had never done it before. i took the last 5 weeks off- longer than i ever have. my legs have only known the flutter kick during that time since i have been swimming. but alas, i have now remembered why i love to ride my bike! its glorious! the wind, the fresh air, the rhythm, the mechanics, the power output to propel this machine underneath me- so natural and good.
ok so maybe my average power was only about 120 watts (yeah, i know) but it doesn't matter- because i am back on my bike- and to me its the most exciting thing that has happened to me since i heard the bad news of the fracture. the doc gave me the "ok" to ride yesterday. the swimming has been fine, but definitely not fun- back and forth in a pool for 3.4k everyday with no music just the gurgling of water in and out of my ears- now finally some music! its wonderful. really. i was only allowed 30 minutes, and it took me that long to get dressed for the ride! but it was well worth it- to have the feeling of the bike, rolling over the pavement, smooth. now i know why i ride. because i love it.

yeah, we're plumbers.. professional.

me and tash decided we were gonna fix the sink- because we are professionals. i figure if you are a professional bike racer, that should span across to other professions like plumbing, right?

home improvement....

ahh, nothing like a little home improvement- as you can see, even bike racers can have plumber's crack- and fix sinks too! this is natasha by the way....

broken, again

i am not sure what is wrong with me, but i am the most accident prone person alive i think. so in some previous posts i wrote about my knee bothering me, not really paying much attention to it since i figured i just whacked the hell out of it and needed some time to heal. but in no way would that include time off the bike or not racing...
after cx nationals on sunday when i couldn't move it or i would get shooting pains through my leg i thought it was just swollen and i was being wimpy. after 2 weeks of pain, i decided that i should get it checked out. I got an MRI which showed a fracture in my fibula and a really bruised bone. huh. maybe i'm not such a wimp after all- the bad part about it is that now i have to be off the bike for 6 weeks- no riding, running, hiking, snowboarding, skate skiing- absolutely nothing fun- the doc didn't exactly say that but he might as well have. i am supposed to be using crutches too. they hurt my arm pits. i started swimming again- i used to race back in high school, but i wasn't any good. its really boring. i hope i can make it through the next 5 weeks and 1 day. yes, i am counting. every... single... day...

my dog Casey, trying to pick his way down the logs- he had already ran up and was coming back down to get us- apparently we were too slow for him...

So the other day tasha and i decided to go for a little hike with the dog to get some fresh air- as we started up the "gentle hike" it was apparent that we were in for more than just an easy stroll. the sun was setting, and the rocks and logs were covered with ice and snow- probably not the smartest thing to do with my messed up knee. i am finding that in colorado, its all or nothing- if you go on a hike or ride or anything, its gonna be epic and/or very dangerous. coming back down we squealed like little girls afraid of slipping. yeah, i swear we're pro mountain bike racers....

the afterparty- nothing like a little gin n tonic and video games- whats better than that? maybe a mechanical bull....

while driving into kc on wednesday night through the icy abyss, amy insisted on licking a rock that she thought was sugar coated. wierdo- i told my dog casey to bite her ass, but he wouldn't. that would have been pretty funny.